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9 reasons your website isnt improving

9 reasons why your website isn’t performing

One of the main aims of any website is to generate leads for your business, and if you’re not getting enough traffic, your site won’t perform as it should.

6 minute read

In this piece, we’ll explore why your website might not be getting traffic, how to identify this, and what steps you should take to overcome the issue.

Before we get started, we recommend keeping a weekly tab on how many unique visitors your website is getting and where they’re coming from in a spreadsheet. You can collect this data weekly using Google Analytics. This will enable you to identify dips and trends early on and react as they happen.

We explore other useful tools for measuring performance here.

#1 Your site has technical issues

Sometimes your website might be experiencing technical problems contributing to poor performance, in which case you’ll need to get a developer involved to look at your site’s code. For example, it could be that the JavaScript or CSS files need minifying or an issue with how the website looks or works on mobile. Either way, if it’s causing users to leave your site, it needs to be fixed. In addition, you can monitor your site’s overall performance with Google Search Console, which will alert you of any site errors and how to fix them as and when they occur.

#2 Your site has poor SEO

If your website is experiencing low traffic numbers, it might be worth looking at your SEO strategy. Helpful tools such as SEMrush allow you to see how your site ranks for designated keywords, as well as how your competitors are ranking. In addition, it’s worth checking that your site has been optimised for SEO with appropriate metadata, image alt text and relevant content, as this can all have a severe impact on your search engine rankings which will ultimately impact your website’s performance. 

#3 Your content isn’t targeting the right audience

If your website traffic is low, but you think you’ve implemented SEO best practices, then you might find that your content isn’t speaking to the right audience. The best way to determine this is by looking at your bounce rates via Google Analytics. While high bounces for one-page sites are acceptable, if it’s high for lots of pages, then it might be that your content isn’t resonating with your visitors, causing them to leave your website in search of a competitor’s and thinking that your brand isn’t for them.

Not sure about content marketing? Here’s why it’s essential.

#4 What you do isn’t clear

Another reason you might be experiencing high bounce rates is because what you do isn’t clear enough when users first land on your website. To test this theory, it’s worth having some friends, family, and even strangers visit your site and ask them if they can tell you within the first couple of seconds what it is your business does or sells. If they can’t, then you need to rethink your site’s messaging.

#5 You haven’t got an SSL certificate

If your website URL hasn’t got the HTTPS (https://www.supersonicplayground.com), then you’re missing an SSL certificate for your domain. This might sound like technical jargon if you’re not familiar with this area of your website, but not having an SSL certificate means that some browsers will flag your site as not secure and direct users away from it. Not only does the HTTPS reassure users that your website is secure, instilling trust with them, but it also impacts how search engines like Google rank your site. Therefore, not having one can have a significant impact on your website’s performance, so you should speak to your web agency, domain provider or IT team about this as soon as possible.  

#6 Your images aren’t optimised

Un-optimised images can impact page speed and SEO, so this could be a more significant reason why your website isn’t performing well. Make sure you’re sizing your images correctly, saving them in the correct format and using appropriate ALT text when uploading them to your CMS to optimise the image and therefore enhance your website’s performance. 

#7 Your website is too slow

Research conducted by Think with Google tells us that the average site takes around 15 seconds to load, which when you consider that 53% of mobile users will leave if a website takes longer than three seconds, isn’t good enough. If your website falls into this category, then bounce rates will be up and, when you take this over a long period, it will tell Google that your website isn’t serving the user’s needs, and therefore they’ll start pushing you down the rankings. Keep an eye on your website’s speed with a Page Speed Insights test and follow their tips for optimising your site better. Some elements can be quite technical, so you may need to speak to a developer or web agency to help you with this.

3 reasons why speed is so important to your website’s performance.

#8 Your website isn’t responsive

Last April, Google released an algorithm update that focused on boosting the ranking of mobile-friendly websites and pushing those that aren’t responsive further down the results. Even without this update, we know from experience that responsive websites help reduce bounce rates on multiple devices and produce a better user experience. Run your website through Google’s mobile-friendly test to give you an idea of how the search engine ranks your page and, if your website isn’t already responsive, then this should be on your roadmap for 2020.  

Find out more about responsive design.

#9 Your user experience (UX) is poor

Your website exists to serve the needs of your visitors, and if it isn’t doing this, then it isn’t performing. A bad user experience drives visitors away. An excellent way to identify if your website provides a good user experience is to think about your key goals on the site. For example, it might be that you want users to download your eBook, complete a form, purchase your products or complete an enquiry form. Whatever it is, your users should find it as part of their journey. Use Google Analytics to set up goals for your website, and keep an eye on how often these are triggered. You can also use the Analytics Behaviour Tool dashboard to see where users are dropping off in your journey (not reaching your goals), and this will help you identify which areas might need UX attention on your site. 

Find out more about the importance of user experience in design.

Now that you understand the potential pain points affecting your website, we suggest having a deeper dive and identifying which ones directly impact your site. Then, armed with this information, you can approach your new website build with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) objectives in mind to ensure your agency knows what you’re looking to achieve and what your current performance issues are so that they can advise appropriately. 

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